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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

In September of 2008, I stumbled across this information about homemade laundry detergent (from The Simple Dollar). The idea intrigued me, in large part because I would get to make a goopy mixture! When we moved into our house and got a sweet deal on a high efficiency washer, I wasn't ready to try such a goopy option on the new appliance. More research and I found information on how to make a powdered version on the homemade detergent from Frugal Upstate.

It took me a while to get up the nerve to do it because I didn't want to mess up our washer, and I also was afraid that it wouldn't get our clothes clean. A lot of people have commented on the two different recipes above, many of whom use HE washers and homemade detergent without a problem and say that their clothes are just as clean.

I have been making my own laundry detergent for about 5 months now, and I basically use the second "recipe", the powdered version. The main reason that I started doing this was because of our cloth diapers. There are specific instructions on which detergents NOT to use with cloth, because they can coat the diapers (and coated diapers means not absorbing you-know-what!!). Our washer has held up fine with the homemade detergent and our clothes are clean and smell great!

UPDATE (2/2011): I've been using homemade detergent for 2 years now. I do not use Fels-Naptha soap anymore because I prefer the scent of the Almond Yardley soap. The texture of the bar also allows it to chop into finer pieces in the food processor. I have had NO problems with the functionality of my HE washer because of using this detergent. Additionally, my cloth diapers have held up very well, and show no signs of repelling as a result of being washed in homemade detergent.

The other bonus with my homemade detergent is that it costs about 2-3 cents a load! I've made 4 batches of detergent since March of this year for less than $5. Even using coupons or shopping at Costco, I would have a hard time getting store-bought detergent for close to that price.

Here's a quick run-down on how I make my detergent. This recipe makes about 50 loads using 1 tablespoon of detergent per load. I made some yesterday while I was already in the kitchen cleaning things up, so it really only added 5 minutes or so to what I was doing.

Supplies:

1 box washing soda (Arm & Hammer for $2.29 @ Acme)

1 box Borax (20 Mule for $2.29 @ Acme)

1 bar soap (Fels-Naptha for $1.19 @ Acme) (Yardley for $1 @ Dollar Tree or $0.69 on sale at Walgreens - this is a sale they run every 6-8 weeks)

Food Processor, 1/2 cup measure, and sharp knife

Cut up the bar of soap. Depending on the soap you use, you will have to cut different ways. Back when I was using Fels-Naptha, I had to really chunk and dice the bar. The Yardley ends up being more of a shaved cutting method, which is a lot easier to get nice and small in the food processor:

Put the soap into your food processor

and grind. After the soap is ground up, add 1/2 cup of borax and 1/2 cup of washing soda and mix together. (Update: As mentioned above, using Yardley soap helps to get the bar soap chopped smaller, though it is still not as fine as the Borax or washing soda, naturally)

Here's a look after everything has been mixed together.

And this is what my old Fels-Naptha detergent looked like...much chunkier:
I usually mix up a "double batch" of detergent. Since we use this for our regular laundry as well as cloth diapers, we go through a good bit of it. I've repurposed an old mayo container from Costco for our laundry detergent. I keep a tablespoon measure in with it so all I have to do is add a scoop to each load!

Questions or experience with homemade laundry detergent? Let me know in the comments!

I have never had any rash issues with my kids using this detergent, but of course it can very from person to person. Both of my children have been at least a month before using cloth diapers full time, but I also wash all of our clothing with this dertergent, even when my kids were newborns.

I think you could probably use most any soap, whatever you prefer. The main this with washing cloth diapers in homemade soap is that you do not want anything with a fabric softener because that will prevent the diapers from absorbing over time.

So, we just mixed up a batch of this detergent yesterday, I am excited to see how it works! We were having trouble from time to time with soapy buildup in the diapers(I was using non-approved detergent...and may have needed to rinse a bit more, who knows), so I am hoping that will alleviate the problem.

Thank you for adding the part about the Yardley soap! I bought the zote and the fels naptha, but wasn't comfy when reading the results...and Ivory soap had unnatural ingredients too. I saw the yardley and something told me that would work as well. I bought the lavendar scent...thank you!

Silly question - but to make the detergent, you use the same food processor that you use for your kitchen food? I was just pondering possible bowl etching or residue problems with the washing soda or borax in my plastic bowl...??

Ok, thanks. Maybe I'll give it a try. I'm still a little scared :-) I use Charlie's Soap for the little one's dipes and I'm petrified to switch! And powder 365 Whole Foods brand for rest of our laundry. I exclusively use power now because I had a terrible mold problem with my front loader, so this recipe interests me since its a powder detergent... Still scared, but getting closer. I luv the Yardley soap from Dollar Tree - I use that in the shower for myself! LOL

My first thought is that it could be your water - is it soft or hard? That could change how well the detergent rinses. I haven't had that issue, so unfortunately I don't have a lot of good advice! Perhaps running an extra rinse cycle would help too.

I found this link through the Frugal Girl, and am relieved to see that I may not need to buy separate detergent for our cloth diapers like I thought! Do you still only use a tablespoon of detergent for diapers? We have been using the BG detergent for our cloth diapers (pretty much all BG 4.0), and I have to say I'm not thrilled with the performance, it seems like I will need to strip them pretty regularly to keep them from stinking. Have you had any problems with the homemade detergent and needing to strip the diapers more or less often? Thanks so much in advance!

I do still use just a tablespoon of detergent (sometimes it is heaping, depending on the level of soiled-ness of the load!). I strip my diapers every 2-3 months (sometimes longer!) and have been super happy with this detergent! I've used it for nearly 5 years now for all of our laundry, including diapers.

Hi! Do you have hard or soft water? I have had stinky problems with my CD. I finally found the way to strip them that worked for us but I hate using bleach. I would love to use a natural and more safe solution. Have you tried stripping your CD with anything else that has worked? Thanks so much!!!

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